This invention relates to image reproduction systems, and in particular, to systems for controlling the finishing parameters associated with a print job.
In conventional image reproduction systems, a document author initiates the process of printing a document by first creating a PDL file. This file typically includes the document content encoded in a page description language (xe2x80x9cPDLxe2x80x9d). The author then creates a print job by associating a job ticket with this PDL file. This job ticket includes several data fields identifying the print job and carrying information about how to finish the print job. For example, if the printed output is to be stapled, collated or printed on special stock, this information is typically found in corresponding fields on the job ticket. The print job, with the job ticket and its accompanying PDL file, is then transmitted to a control stage associated with a printer.
At the control stage, the author""s print job is placed in a print queue, together with print jobs from other users of the printer. Once the author""s print job moves to the top of the print queue, job management software running on the control stage decomposes the PDL file associated with the author""s print job. This decomposition process transforms the PDL file into a sequence of byte maps, each of which represents a page in the author""s document. These byte maps are then sent to the printer to be printed and finished in a manner consistent with the instructions specified n the various fields on the job ticket.
Because of the costs associated with printing large or complex jobs, it is common practice to prepare proof copies before committing to a production run. These proof copies are typically printed in limited numbers and on low-cost stock with certain finishing options disabled and other printing options remaining the same. Since the job ticket specifies the finishing options, it follows that the job ticket used for the production run is different from the job ticket used to print proofs.
As noted above, the job ticket is associated with a PDL file to form a print job which is then transmitted to the control stage of the image reproduction system. Once the print job has reached the control stage, it is no longer practical to change the finishing parameters on the job ticket. Moreover, even if one could reprogram the job ticket at the printer to turn a production job into a proof job, it is unrealistic to expect the operator at the printer to perform such an elaborate procedure.
Even if the operator were to reprogram the job ticket as described above, the finishing parameters supplied by the author would be lost. In order to later recover these original finishing parameters, the operator would have to carefully undo all changes made to the job ticket in the course of reprogramming it. This is an error prone procedure which, if performed incorrectly, can result in expensive errors. For example, an error in undoing all changes may result in an entire production run being printed on the wrong stock.
Because of the foregoing limitation in conventional image reproduction systems, the author prints proofs by preparing a proof job ticket, attaching it to the PDL file, and sending the resulting print job to the control stage. Then, to make the production run, the author prepares a production job ticket, attaches it to the same PDL file, and then sends the resulting production job to the control stage. It is apparent, therefore, that the author routinely sends the same PDL file to the control stage twice, first with a proof job ticket and second with a production job ticket. Because PDL files can be extremely large, the transmission of a PDL file to the control stage is a time-consuming operation. The retransmission of a PDL file to a control stage that already has the identical PDL file stored within it is thus an extremely wasteful use of computation resources.
In most cases, the production job ticket differs from the proof job ticket in only a few data fields. For example, the field specifying the number of copies and the field specifying the type of stock are likely to differ but many other fields are likely to remain the same. As a result, the creation of two separate job tickets involves many instances of specifying the same finishing parameter in both the proof job ticket and the production job ticket. Given the number of finishing options available in a modern image reproduction system, this task is burdensome and prone to error.
There is thus a need in the art to provide a method and system for changing the finishing parameters on a job ticket after the print job has already been transmitted to the control stage of the image reproduction system.
The method of the invention addresses the problem of quickly and easily switching between different sets of finishing instructions by associating, with a print job, a base job and a shadow job ticket. The base job ticket and the shadow job ticket are then used in the assembly of a composite job ticket.
In a preferred embodiment, the base job ticket includes a base data field having finishing instructions, and a shadow job ticket having a corresponding shadow data field. If the corresponding shadow data field includes finishing instructions, those finishing instructions are used in a corresponding composite data field in the composite job ticket. The instructions in a shadow job ticket are therefore used to override, for the purposes of proofing, corresponding instructions in the base job ticket.
The shadow job ticket can be in either an active state or an inactive state. If the shadow job ticket is in its inactive state, it is ignored in the assembly of a composite print job. Conversely, if the shadow job ticket is in its active state, the instructions found in the shadow job ticket are used to override corresponding instructions in the base job ticket. The shadow job ticket can be switched from its active state to its inactive state, and vice versa, by an operator at an output stage of an image reproduction system. In this way, one can quickly and easily switch between two sets of finishing instructions.
In operation a base job ticket and a shadow job ticket are associated with each other at the input stage and transmitted, either together or separately, to a control stage of an image reproduction system. On the basis of this association, the control stage executes software that generates a composite job ticket. If the shadow job ticket is in its active stage, this composite job ticket includes finishing instructions selected from the base job ticket and the shadow job ticket. If the shadow job ticket is in its inactive stage, the composite job ticket includes instructions selected from only the base job ticket.
In a typical application of the method of the invention, the base job ticket specifies finishing instructions for the production run of a print job and the shadow job ticket includes those finishing instructions that are to be changed in order to form a set of instructions for printing proof copies of the print job. Alternatively, the base job ticket can specify the finishing instructions for a proof run and the shadow job ticket can specify those finishing instructions that are to be changed to form finishing instructions for the production run. In either case, an operator at the control stage of the image reproduction system can readily switch between finishing instructions for a production run and finishing instructions for a proof run by simply switching the shadow job ticket between its active state and its inactive state. This feature of the invention eliminates the need to retransmit the print job with a different job ticket in order to switch between a proof run and a production run and does so without requiring the operator to reprogram a job ticket.
The method of the invention also includes the use of multiple job tickets which can be switched from one state to another independently of each other. By switching different combinations of shadow job tickets to their respective active states, an operator can easily switch between several different sets of finishing parameters.